2015 Award for Being Terrible

So while I was contemplating the last year and considering everything I had done or still needed to do I had a realization; I need one more reward for biggest gaming dumbass of the year. To be fair it is usually a tight race with EA picking it up for either doing something stupid or for price gouging the hell out of gamers… usually with sharp sticks to save on the bottom line. I think everyone can agree though that the reward should go to Konami. Everyone thought it was bad when they canceled Silent Hills but it only went downhill from there and didn’t stop for almost all of 2015. The odd thing is that there has still been little to no explanation on any of it. Konami is still trying to play it off like they did at the gaming awards and I’m sure Kojima has so many gag orders on him it feels like some cruel and unusual bondage sex game.

To refresh your memory it all started in April when Konami suddenly and with no explanation killed what was going to be the newest Silent Hills game. Not only that but hours later they pulled out of the NY Stock Exchange quoting the cost of US regulations as too demanding. If all that wasn’t enough they also completely removed nearly any trace of the playable trailer, or P.T., from the PSN (I still have mine luckily). Considering the wide spread appeal that the trailer alone brought and the talent behind it including Guillermo del Toro and the actor from The Walking Dead, this was an extremely surprising move. Guillermo del Toro, co-creator and writer, especially criticized the way Konami went about cancelling the game and described how they removed it as ‘scorched earth policy’ and swore off any future games. Well the scorched earth doesn’t stop there; with little explanation much of what comes later is mainly theoretical.

Most people assume the game was canceled due to a parting between Konami and Hideo Kojima, creator of Kojima productions and the Metal Gear Solid series. What caused this parting is unclear but two possibilities seem much more likely than most. One is the very likely shift that Konami will be making towards iOS and freemium games in some attempt to cash in on the growing market. Second is the sudden trend Konami has made to close itself off and cut out any studios not directly under their control; assuming that is correct it is very doubtful Kojima would give up his production company. For a while Konami tried to play off rumors of the breakup by saying Kojima was taking time off. Why they thought they could hide this fact as they erased Kojima and his studio from every website, social media account, and his latest award winning game The Phantom Pain is a complete mystery.

Not only have they removed Kojima from his own long running award winning franchise but they also removed him as an executive of Konami and everywhere else in the company. The final straw and the point Konami finally gave up the charade was at the 2015 video game awards show when they legally barred him from accepting the reward to his own game. Come on Konami, no one bought that bullshit story to begin with but was it really necessary to salt the earth after you napalmed everything in sight and burned all the bridges? Again, many of the details are still under wraps, which is kind of a surprise something has leaked through yet, it is clear however that Konami done fucked up 2015.

They didn’t just let loose the goose that lays the golden eggs as brutally killed it, poorly stuffed it and put it on display as an eternal reminder of what they lost; all the while convincing themselves they are better off with a taxidermy goose than a bottomless pit of money. So much like many other people I will be giving EA a break this year and EA should probably send Konami a nice thank you gift basic or something, the card can read ‘Thanks for fucking up worse than us this year and drawing the fire to you. Here is a basket of lemons so you can go suck it.’ So for being the worse in gaming for the year 2015 I award Konami with the not so coveted ‘Dipshits of the Year Award’. I would have sent a card to celebrate but I don’t think Hallmark carries a ‘Congratulations on Being Terrible’ card.